Frog Systematics and Conservation in the Western Ghats of India

﻿Taxonomic nomenclature is the “common vocabulary” for scientific communications.Accurate sharing of information, whether for casual communication or for preciseresearch, is possible because of this fundamental building block. Thus scientificnaming of an organism is the vital step before in depth studies.

However, before “naming” an organism, someone has to find the organism and“know” the organism. This traditionally has been the preserve of natural historystudies. Though this line of study is centuries old, it still has relevance.Combining classical natural history with molecular techniques, we see new speciesof large animals emerging: surprisingly even animals as large as primate, tiger andleopard. The central message appears to be that the species hunt must go on with acombination of old and new methods.

My species hunt has been primarily in the Western Ghats. My target has alwaysbeen amphibians. Species level identification in amphibians is vital for studies onpatterns of evolutionary diversification and biogeography. It also provides themethodology for assessing conservation needs and rationale for assigningconservation priorities. Intensive and focused surveys has yielded recognizedextant amphibian species all over the world, especially from Malesia, Madagascarand Sri Lanka. However, the potential biological spendour of amphibian fauna in theWestern Ghats did not get such systematic attention.

I started my field surveys in the Ghats against the backdrop of taxonomicconfusion - there were only a few reliable taxonomic publications for fieldidentification.

I started my research with several questions. How many frog species are there inthe Western Ghats? Could all the species be identified using morphological traitsalone? How many of them occur in other biogeographical regions? What parameters arepractically useful for identification? Can reproductive behaviors and developmentalpathways be used for taxonomic identification? How safe are these fauna in therapidly depleting habitat of the Western Ghats?

My study opened the fascinating world of reproductive and developmental mode ofanurans. At least eight new reproductive modes and four new reproductive strategieswere observed, and many of them are in the process of formal documentation. InChapter 4 a new reproductive mode and its phylogenic implications is discussed.

The study also showed a major cause for concern. There were strong indicationsthat the natural home ranges of several narrow endemic species were depleting. Thelast Chapter (Chapter 7) presents a conservation prioritization of Western Ghatsfrogs by using IUCN global criteria. A comprehensive reference book on the WesternGhats frogs (may be amphibians) is a critical need. It is my ambition to produceit. This research is first step to realize this ambition.

We now live in a ‘century of extinctions’. To halt, reverse or at least reducethis march of extinctions, we need to bring in whatever that could work. I hopethat my research will be a specific contribution in the wider efforts ofconservation. I am encouraged by the new interest in Amphibian research in theWestern Ghats. My research will continue; research in the Ghats can only be handedover – not concluded.